Intertwined
by a million rubber skeletons
Summary: Right place, right time. A haggard old cliche to most, but to Rikku, it means the embroilment of strange, dark events, and perhaps her chance to save the world herself and get out of Yuna's shadow-with a certain one-eyed Machine Faction leader incessantly and unfortunately at her side. (Remake of The Key.)
1. The Unattainable Nap

Brother always sounds the mission alarm _right _when I decide to take a nap.

"_Riiiikuuu! Nabund du dra pnetka!"_Like I don't know the alarm means to report to the bridge. Brother just needs something else to shriek about.

I settle more comfortably into the bed. Maybe if I imagine _really hard_that I'm napping, I'll nip off the fatigue from yesterday's sleepless night. My eyes close tight. I make my breathing slow and think of chocobos running peacefully through the Calm Lands.

"_Rikku! Frana yna oui?" Where are you?_I jolt upwards at the shriek, ready for a battle. I must have been so good at pretending that I actually fell asleep for a minute, there. With a long groan I'm up and off the bed, pausing to stretch towards the ceiling as an apology to my exhausted body. I have to drag myself down the spiral staircase. "Did we get more steps?" I call out. "Maybe like fifty more steps? I think we definitely got more steps."

Calli giggles from her spot behind the bar. "That would be pretty impressive," she acknowledges, her voice a honey-rasp as always. "I think I'll tag along with you, if that's okay. It's so _boring_down here."

"Sure thing." Waiting for her to come around the bar is the perfect opportunity to sneak a look at her face and wonder for the millionth time why she's still here if it's so boring. When Barkeep decided that the life of a barkeep was not nearly as good as a life swimming through the Moonflow with his Darling, Calli begged to step in so she could stay on board. She said that she didn't have anywhere else to go, so Barkeep told her where he got his healing items and Calli stepped in as our new supply master. We've been pretty shorthanded in the past year with Yunie snuggling up to Tidus and Paine off doing her thing, so she even steps in for missions, sometimes. She and that chocobo are really useful in a fight. Still, it doesn't make much sense that she's here instead of with, say, Clasko on his chocobo ranch. He'd be delighted to have her, and she'd be a perfect fit with that wild love of the giant yellow thing that almost got her killed.

"Rikku, back to Spira!" Calli chimes. "Do I have something awful on my nose, or are you tryin' to figure out the meaning of life over there?"

"What?" So much for sneaking. Leading the way is much better than letting her see me blush, I decide as I skip my way out the sliding door that leads into the hallway. "Sorry. I'm way tired. Brother ruined any chance of my nap, too."

"He doesn't have much of a sense of timing," Calli says warmly.

"That's for sure." I definitely don't share her warmth on the subject, though. There are many things I feel for my brother, but affection is _not_one of them.

Calli glides her way past me into the elevator so that she can work the machina herself. "What do you think he's got this time?" she asks cheerily. "A new sphere, maybe?"

"Maybe." I'm not that excited. Sphere hunting, it turns out, isn't nearly as fun when you're not hunting down lost loves or breaking the rules. Keeping active is great, and seeing my friends all over Spira is something I wouldn't trade for the world, but the actual act of finding spheres? Not so awesome anymore.

"Oh, come on, sleepy-pants, perk up!" She nudges at me with an elbow. The door slides open before I can answer and she proceeds to sprint up to and over the center rail, much the same as Yunie used to. I'm way too tired to sprint. "I think we got more of these steps, too," I complain, trudging over to them.

"Rikku, you're late! And why are you whining?" Brother's hands go to his hips as he nags at me. Nothing new, there.

"You interrupted my nap," I mutter, pouting.

"Boo hoo! Use a Stamina Spring or something."

"That's really not what they're for, actually. The endurance you get only comes in handy when you're in—"

He interrupts me by sticking out his tongue and blowing a big, fat raspberry. Next to him, Calli giggles. "Yeah, yeah, I don't _care._We have a mission!"

He sounds super excited about this mission, as if we have anything important to do anymore. "What kind of mission?" I ask warily.

"It's not really a _mission,_per se." Buddy pops up next to Brother, giving his best friend a raise of brow. "We've got—"

"A party to go to." The voice belongs not to Brother but the gas mask making his way from behind Buddy.

"Shinra!" I rush forward to scoop the kid into my arms. "You're sprouting like a weed! You know, I don't think they make those full-body suits for adults."

"Says who?" he asks. He hugs back for just a moment before stepping back, clearing his throat in a business-like manner.

"Trying to act all grown-up?" I tease, patting his head. "How's Rin?"

"He's fine. We took a little break from Highroad machina to help out the Machine Faction."

"The Machine Faction? Oooh, what for?"

"He won't say _anything!"_Brother complains.

"That's what the party's for," Shinra says with a shrug. "I can't ruin the surprise. Cid insisted on throwing some big party to announce the tech. It's pretty revolutionary, but I think he's just been restless all cooped up in Djose."

"Oooh, a _party?_Sounds fun! Who's gonna be there?"

"Well, the Machine Faction, of course. They rustled up Nooj and Baralai, and I think managed to get Yuna, Tidus, and Paine to show up, too. Some of the members of the group are tagging along with Baralai and Nooj. Nhadala's coming with her desert group. Cid talked to anyone important and said to spread the word. And since Yuna's gonna be there…"

"Wow, that's a lot of people." Too many people to not be suspicious, that's for sure. Is Cid rallying up people to support some stupid new project of his? It wouldn't be the first time. Since Nhadala and Rin told him to give up making a new Home, he's got to have some free time on his hands.

"You don't seem too happy about the party," Shinra notes. "You're not going to skip out, are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," I reply cheerily, and it's the truth. It'd be pretty dumb to avoid this after all of my complaints about needing a change of pace. "When is it?"

"Now," Shinra says.

"Wait—right now? And you _just_came to tell us?"

"Cid probably figured we'd be more likely to come if he sprung it on us," Buddy offered, moving forward. "He sent Shinra over with the news and a handful of dresspheres."

"New dresspheres?" I haven't had a new dressphere in _forever._"Whatcha got for me, Shinra?"

"Rogue." Shinra pulls a pulsing sphere from a pocket in his suit and tosses it to me. "It's sort of like your thief, but it focuses more on stealth and status magic."

"Oooh, score!" I lock the sphere into my grid and manipulate the thing to go for it. The familiar sensation is cool, shimmering, over faster than I'd like as always.

"It's so cute!" Calli exclaims, leaning forward to touch the material of the dress.

She's right. The dress has a distinct Al Bhed feel, lightweight and a vibrant red in color with bits of a darker maroon interwoven. The sleeves are short and rest off my shoulders, and the skirt is knee-length with a slit up one leg to allow better movement. The boots are calf-length and dark, with buckles in the same color as the dress going up them all the way. I put a hand to my head—no hat, just my hair, long enough that I've forgone my ponytail for a long, thick braid.

"I _like_it!" I exclaim. I dig in the sheath buckled at my hip and produce a strange sort of staff, short with a wicked blade curved on one side. "_This_is different. Nice."

Calli stares at the weapon with wide eyes. When she fights, it's mostly with items, a short, fast sword, and her chocobo. Dresspheres are something entirely foreign to her, and sometimes, I think she's pretty jealous. "Do you have anything for Calli?" I ask, turning to Shinra.

"Of course." He sniffles, and reaches into a different pocket for a sphere. "I imagine you have an extra grid."

"More like twenty," I reply with a grin. "But I've got one on me right here." I remove the thing, accepting the sphere from Shinra and moving closer to Calli to show her how it goes in and how to manipulate it.

She gets it right on the first go, and as soon as the transformation starts, she laughs in amazement. It's almost better to watch someone use it than to use it yourself. Her body is enveloped in a sort of shimmering swirl, and she comes out with a pattern similar to my Alchemist dress, this one turquoise and purple. "Neato," she breathes, looking down at herself. Her eyes widen as the gun materializes into her hands.

"What—what do I do with _this_?"

"Well, you can leave it here if you'd like," I say. "It's a party, after all. Or you can strap it on your back."

"Uh—no thanks," she decides, moving over to place it on the desk that once belonged to Shinra. "This is so neat, though! You have this one, don't you?"

"Yeah! It's neat. Actually, you should keep the grid. The Alchemist dressphere will be super useful to you, since you use items all the time anyway."

"Really? My own garment grid? This is so _cool!_Thanks, Rikku!" The girl flies across the room to hug me. Is she much of a girl, though? She's taller than me, enough so that my head rests comfortably into her shoulder as I hug her, and her body has filled out. She's older than I was when I went with Yunie on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin.

I glance toward the boys as I step away from Calli, wondering if I'm not the only one that's noticed. Buddy and Brother haven't even stopped to look at her, though, marveling over their own dresspheres—formal Al Bhed armor, similar to what Gippal wears.

Gippal. _Cred._He'sgoing to be there. I never even stopped to consider that, as the leader of the Machine Faction, of course his smug mug will be hanging around. I'm not gonna let _him_scare me off. I'll just—ignore him. It shouldn't be that hard, with all the people there.

Buddy and Brother finish admiring each other while I come to this conclusion and turn to compliment Calli, so my attention goes to that. Is it me being paranoid, or do Brother's eyes stay on her a little long? _Hmm._

"Looks like everyone's ready to go, then," Shinra says cheerily, once the talking dies down.

"What about you, Shinra? If we're all dressed up, you should be, too."

"No way. I like it in my suit." He snickers. "Besides, I want to see how old I can get before anyone sees my face." He waves me off before I can protest, turning to Buddy. "Now, why don't you fly us to Djose?"


	2. The Party

Even though we're near the Highroad, I can hear the party as soon as I step off the airship. A few people are out on the bridge, but most of the noise is coming from the temple. Loudest is the music, weird and familiar enough that it's impossible not to recognize. I grin and nudge at Brother. "Heyy. Sounds like our Macalania friends are here!"

"_Oac_," he agrees, looking excitedly past the bridge. "If they're here, this is Tobli's party."

"Ohh. Definitely!" Since Yunie's concert a year and a half ago, Tobli's been untouchable. His shows don't seem that fun to me, but the rest of Spira seems to disagree. They run to the Moonflow the second they get word of a Tobli event. Luca's even hired him to help with Sphere Break tournaments. Cid never does anything halfway, so he must have hired the little bird-man to put together the shindig.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Calli calls from the airship steps. With a grin, she's down and running. Buddy and Shinra are already rushing after Calli, but Brother gives me a meaningful sort of look and sets off at a slow place. I match my steps to his.

"Okay, I'm not the only one worried about Cid, right?" he asks as soon as we've got enough distance from the others.

"It does seem like a really big party just for some new machina," I agree. "I thought maybe he was gonna try something, but as for what I've got nothin'. Then again, I wouldn't even have nightmares about half the stuff he's tried to pull."

He makes a grumbling noise, his brows drawing together. "Let's just—keep an eye on him, yeah?"

"Yeah," I agree. "Maybe if we figure out what he's trying to do, we can stop it before it even starts!"

"Maybe." He frowns. "Maybe it really is just a party?"

"And maybe I'm half-chocobo," I retort. "Now, come on! We may as well enjoy ourselves while we can."

He scowls at me, but I'm off after the rest of our group before he can even answer. A muttered Al Bhed curse and he's right behind me.

The rocks above the temple are floating as usual, but they seem higher, and the arcs of electricity that connect them look brighter. Maybe it's just the atmosphere. People mill about outside the ex-temple, and through the open doors still more can be seen within the main room.

Isaaru is the first familiar face I spot, lounging in his heavy summoner's robes with Maroda at his side. I catch his eye and wave wildly. He returns the wave with a small smile. Of course he'd be here, now that I think about it. When Cid was on his mission to destroy the sanctity of Zanarkand, Isaaru was his right-hand man.

"You don't think Isaaru being here has anything to do with his next scheme, do you?" I ask Brother suspiciously. Actually, I ask the air where Brother was a moment before. His mohawk darts through the crowd, towards a group of Al Bhed men I recognize as a few of his old friends. Of course.

Everyone else has abandoned me, too. Buddy's managed to find and strike up a conversation with Rin. Calli's trailed her way over to the Al Bhed girls that pilot the hovers. And Shinra is…somewhere. I lost sight of the kid as soon as I got off the airship.

I take up the rest of the Gullwings' cues, glancing around for someone to catch up with. It must be my lucky day, because as soon as I begin my search a familiar brown bob floats its way through the crowd, followed closely by a head of spiky blonde hair. Yunie!

"Yuna! Yunieee!" I run my way through the crowd until I can stand in front of her, hurtling into her arms. "Look at you! You look so good! Has it really been six months?"

She laughs, that gentle sound that's calmed almost every Spiran in existence at one time or another, and pulls away to look at me. "It really has been. You look good, too, Rikku! I like your hair. And your dress. Is it a dressphere?"

"Uhh-huh. It's a _rogue. _Shinra brought it to me. Is yours a dressphere? It's pretty!" She's got a flowy, blue dress that grazes the tops of her knee-high boots.

"No, just a dress." She releases my hands to pull at the skirt, letting it flow. "I don't have much use for dresspheres anymore with Besaid so calm."

"Domesticated Yunie," I chirp, trying not to sound nervous. The last time we talked about it, I told her she was going soft, and she told me I was jealous. I'd put it aside by the end of our mission, but it'd still hurt me. Lately, I've been wondering if maybe she was right. If I had a place to belong, people to belong to, would I be happy? Would I find that purpose I've been missing?

Yuna's voice drags me out of those thoughts. What did she say? _You bet _"You really should come and visit the island soon, Rikku. Wakka misses you. And Vidina's getting big so fast! He's trying to crawl, now."

"Awww, how cute!" Vidina has a special place in my heart, and not just because he's the child of my fellow ex-guardians. The Wakka that names his baby an Al Bhed word is such a big step from the Wakka I first met. "I'll stop in and see them soon."

As Yuna describes Vidina's antics, my eyes go to Tidus, standing behind Yuna with his hands resting on her shoulders. When I ran into Paine in Bevelle a couple of months ago, she told me that since he came back, they're always touching each other in some way—hands resting on waists and shoulders, legs overlapping, fingers locked together. _It's like they're scared that if they're not touching, they'll lose each other again, _she'd said, her face unusually soft.

Tidus meets my gaze as Yuna finishes her story, giving me a nod. "How ya doin', Rikku?" he asks cheerily, saving me from a response to a story I hadn't even heard.

"I'm good! Still traveling the world. We're collecting spheres for the history of Spira, now. We turn them into Bevelle, where they get analyzed by Nooj and Baralai."

"Really?" Yuna asks, brows raised. "I thought their search for the history of Spira was just an excuse to hide secrets."

"It was at first. But when the groups came together, they decided that they really wanted to know what the Spira before Sin was like. I dunno why they're so interested in those machina cities."

"I think I do," Tidus says. "Sin's really gone, you guys took down that machina, and now there aren't even any groups to fight. There's finally peace. There hasn't been peace in a thousand years. I don't think anyone even knows what to do with it."

"Ohh. Y'know, I think you're right," I say. "Oh, hey! You came from peace. Your Zanarkand was like a big party, yeah? Why don't you talk to them? Y'know, give 'em some suggestions?"

"Yeah, right," he laughs. "Like they'd believe me."

"Nooj and Baralai have lived through strange things," Yuna says. "They also trust me. I'm sure they'd believe you, really." There's a note in her voice that I recognize all too well. It's the same determination that got us all wrapped up with Vegnagun. If Yuna can help change the world, she will, and she'll definitely drag her lover right along with it. Then again, he looks thoughtful enough that maybe it won't take much dragging at all.

"It sounds like a good way to fill your quiet time," I tease.

"Maybe it is," Yuna replies. Her voice laughs, but her face is too serious to be teasing.

"Oh, hey, speaking of Nooj and Baralai, are they here? And what about Paine?"

"I saw them with Gippal before we came out," Yuna says.

"Gippal?" Am I squeaking? I think I'm squeaking. "Of course. They've all been working really hard to bring all the groups together. I bet they're all close again."

"It seems so." She tilts her head to the side, and the statement is almost a question. I definitely squeaked.

"Anyway, I should go say hi to them. Especially Paine—I've _gotta _know how her story's coming along. And besides, look at all those Yunie-hungry people jealous of the celebrity time I'm taking away from them." I can totally get away with what I'm saying because technically, none of it is a lie. I really _should _say hi to everyone, right? And I'm really eager to know more about Paine's story. The last part isn't even a half-truth. It feels like most of Spira is glaring at me right now.

Yuna gives a short laugh and reaches forward to squeeze my hands. "This is a great opportunity to catch up with friends of all sorts. I'm glad you're not wasting it."

Not even her laughter can put me at ease after _that _phrasing. She's definitely onto me. "I'll find you again before this ends, 'kay?" This seems like the safest response. I miss whatever she says, drop her hands and give my best smile-and-wave.

I make my way to the temple, keeping with my story. There's a pretty low chance that the group is anywhere close to the front. For once, being short feels like a good thing. It's really good for crowd blending.

"Rikku!"

I guess it's not _that _good. At least the loud voice belongs to Pop. Keeping an eye on him is a good distraction. I wave an arm at him as he makes his way towards me.

"How ya been, girl? Been awhile since ya came to see yer ol' man."

He throws an arm around me, and I wrinkle my nose at him. "I didn't even know where you were, Pop," I protest. "Kinda hard to visit a guy that's been hiding out at the Machine Faction headquarters without telling his own kids."

He releases me only to point a finger with the same arm. "Hey, now. Watch yerself. I was doin' somethin' important, see?"

"I see." I spread my own arms towards the giant party. "What kinda thing was that?"

"Ah, ah, ah." I duck to avoid the hand that comes to pat at my head. "No spoilin' the surprise. Ye'll find out when Gippal makes the announcement, just like the rest of 'em."

"Awww. What's the use in being your daughter if I don't even get any secrets?"

"Well, ya got some good genes out of it."

"Yeah, _whatever._"

"Hey! Don't sass me, girl. 'Sides, ya should be proud of me. I've been doin' good things."

"_All _good things?" I narrow my eyes suspiciously at him.

"An' what's that s'posed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing," I trill. "So when do we get to find out about this big-deal machina?"

Cid snorts. "Couldn' tell ya if I wanted to. Ya know Gippal. Works on his own time."

"That's Gippal, all right," I mutter. Can't I go _one _conversation today without him popping up? Just one eensy little talk?

"Huh." The noise is enormous. He looks down at me, his face way too serious, and then shakes his head. "Ya got a bone to pick with Gippal?"

"What?" I laugh, hoping it doesn't come off as a squeak. I'm good at squeaking today. "No way. How could we have a problem? I haven't even talked him in—I don't even know how long." I _do _know how long. Nine months and seventeen days, right when he decided to pretend I'd dropped off of Spira.

His squint says he doesn't believe a word I'm saying. "Damn kids," he mutters under his breath, before reaching over to chuck my chin. "I gotta run, kid. Make my rounds. Haven't seen Brother yet, even. You guys find me before ya leave, all right?"

Another person to hunt down for goodbyes. Great. "Sure thing, Pop," I chirp. At least he's letting it go.

I watch his dirty yellow overalls until they disappear into the crowd and then check out my surroundings. There are a few familiar faces: Dona, looking haughty as ever with Barthello on her arm; Nhadala, waving a glass in the air as she addresses a large group; Elma and Lucil chatting with Clasko. No one threatening, but not really anyone I wanna talk to. Maybe I should find some food. Food never lets me down.

It's then, while I'm searching for a banquet table, that I find what I don't want to look for: a flash of purple-pink and then a turned blonde head. I swear his eye meets mine for a second. _Cred._ Is he moving forward? Is he coming towards me? No way. He's too busy ignoring me to talk to me—right?

I decide I don't want to find out. Weaving through the crowd is easy. I pick a random pattern, circling a bit so it's harder to follow me. Where do I go now? Outside? No. Way too open. My eyes find the entrance to what used to be the trials. People are lounging on the steps, and behind them the door is open. Perfect.

"Good luck finding me in the cloister,_ pycdynt." _


	3. The Chamber

The cloister is clearly off-limits to the party. The only people in the main room are a few half-masked Machine Faction workers. They look up from the twitching machina they're working on as I enter. I give a sheepish grin and a wave. They wave back cheerily and go back to the machina. Huh. Guess there are some perks to being Cid's daughter after all.

Staying in the main room would be pretty pointless since I'm trying to hide, so I make my way forward. I stare into the pedestal room briefly. Nah. I went through all the trouble of sneaking in here. I might as well go up the stairs.

I run my hand along the stone wall, bending back my fingers to keep my nails from rasping on the material. I wasn't with Yunie when the group went through, back when the cloisters really mattered. I can still feel the memories, though. These walls are marked with the sweat and tears of Summoner groups through the ages. Even though I've always hated the cycle of killing, the pilgrimage is something I can't tear down, not after living it. It's really weird to see machina and the occasional Al Bhed sprawled out. It's not like with Zanarkand, sacred ground for me. This is not wrong, just…off.

It's the voices that bring me back to the ground, Al Bhed phrases coming up from the Chamber of Fayth. The Machine Faction doesn't work in the chamber, does it? They've never done it before. Besides, the entrance to the farplane is still there, right? Even if the entrance closed, it's still a huge hole. It wouldn't just disappear. That'd make it pretty hard to get any kind of work done, right?

I step onto the lift that will take me to the Chamber, hoping the noise won't be noticed. There's no break in the voices. The words become more clear as I near the top.

"…_oayr, pid fa cdemm tuh'd ghuf ruf du dyga dra bonavmeac fedr ic." Yeah, but we still don't know how to take the pyreflies with us. _

"_Fa'mm funno ypuid ed frah dra desa lusac. Fa'na zicd rana du muug, nasaspan?" We'll worry about it when the time comes. We're just here to look, remember?_

"_Oui, pid—" _

"_Tuh'd luhlanh ouincamv fedr dra bonavmeac." Don't concern yourself with the pyreflies. _The third voice is smooth and _bad, _somehow. I move off the lift, leaning against the wall so I can't be seen from the doorway. "_Tuh'd oui dnicd sa du dyga lyna uv oui_?" _Don't you trust me to take care of you?_

"_Uv luinca, cen." Of course, sir. _The guy that was worried is all respectful now. Take care of you? What's that mean? None of the voices sound too old or young. Is this some new group? What're they doing with pyreflies?

"_Uhla E ryja dra dalrhelym ycbaldc cundat, dra nacd femm vymm bydeahd, so teclebma. Fryd fa lnyja femm pa eh uin ryhtc jano cuuh." Once I have the technical aspects sorted, the rest will fall together. Be patient, my disciple. What we crave will be in our hands very soon._

"_Oac, sycdan." Yes, master. _

"_Huf lusa, mad ic mayja drec bmyla. E vayn ev fa mehkan yho muhkan, fa syo pa teclujanat. Ev fa ryjah'd paah ymnayto." Now come, let us leave this place. I fear if we linger any longer, we may be discovered. If we haven't been already. _

_Uh-oh! _Those are some ominous tones. It figures I'd run into something like this! I never seem to think of what happens after when I'm in the middle of something. What will this _master _guy do if he finds out someone discovered him? Nothing good for me, that's for sure.

As soon as I start to panic, I feel it. There's a hum in me, the call of power that comes in a mage dressphere. What does this thing want me to do, _fight? _There's only one of me and at least three of them, and they sure don't sound too stable. Unless…hadn't Shinra said something about sneaking? That's a pretty far shot, but it's not like I've got a whole lot of choices, here. I close my eyes and let the humming power release, hoping it's not some kind of exploding spell.

It shimmers, much like the dressphere, but nothing really happens. Before I can even think about what to do next, there's the noise of people entering the room. My head whips towards them as I pull out my staff.

There areonly three of them, and their outfits are strange. They look pretty Al Bhed, the typical yellow and black design that most of the guys choose, but instead of light armor they're robes. On their faces are masks, but not normal Al Bhed masks. These cover the entire head, with thick, dark lenses that are impossible to see through and a longer snout that doesn't look like the usual gas mask. Two of the masks are black, but the one on the tallest guy is a pure white. As I notice this, he looks right at me.

Or past me?

"_Hu uha amca ryc paah rana_," White Mask declares. _No one else has been here._

Shocked, I look down at myself. Instead of my body, I see only the wall. _Sneaking!_

"Let us leave." White Mask speaks Spira's native tongue for the first time. He has no accent. He crosses the room until he's right next to me.

I hold my breath, wondering if he can see through it after all, but he just removes this green thing that looks like half a sphere and presses it to the wall. The whole area next to me pulses green, and there's a whirring sound. I turn my head as slowly as I can towards the noise and bite down hard on my lip to stop from gasping. There's a hole in the wall! But it's not really a hole, is it? It's a dark swirl, big enough for a person to walk through. And, hey, wouldn't you know it, that's _exactly _what they do. Once the third one is through, the whirring turns into a hum and the not-hole disappears.

"Okay, _what _just happened?" The room doesn't seem to know any more than I do. Not that I blame it. Weird guys in Al Bhed robes, something I've never seen before, talked about technical aspects and pyreflies, two things that have nothing to do with each other, and I turned invisible, something I've _definitely _never seen before. I'm still invisible, actually.

The power is something I know I could shut off easily, but instead of away I call it forward and take a step away from the wall. My boot, leg, and then body become visible with the leaving. The power fades away. So I can only use it to blend. It'd be _way _more cool if I could be invisible all the time. Maybe that'll happen if I train this dressphere up? "Aw, man, I need to go pick some fights!" I tell the room.

"You can start with me if you wanna." _They came back. _Staff blade out, I rush towards the voice.

A hand snaps up to stop the blade. Gloved hand, warm fingers, familiar grip. The voice registers as I lift my head to meet the gaze of a single eye. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Guess you're taking up my offering."

"You _scared _me." I struggled to drop my arm. His hand holds it there. "I'm not gonna kill you, y'know."

"Coulda fooled me." Gippal doesn't move his hand. "What are you doin' in here, Cid's girl? Party's not enough entertainment for you?"

"No, I—" Can't explain it. I can't tell him I came up here to run away from him. I lift my chin haughtily, channeling Leblanc to make up for the fact that I'm making it up as I go along. "Lots of people wanna talk to me, y'know. I saved the world twice. I needed a break from talking to everyone, so I came in here."

"Uh-huhh." He scans my face for a long moment, and I try my best to remain haughty. His eye narrows. He doesn't believe me. "So ya seen the hole?"

"The what?"

"The hole. Y'know. The big one in the ground."

"Uhh. Nope. Haven't been in any of the chambers since the whole saving Vegnagun. It's still there, right? I mean, a hole can't just disappear."

"Yep, still there. Dunno if it still leads to the farplane, and I don't wanna take the chance of jumpin' to my death." He lifts a brow. "Wanna see it?"

"Uh, not really. I mean, it's just a hole, and besides it's not like the hole has a bunch of _good _memories, and—"

"Riight." He takes a step towards the chamber, dragging at my arm. "C'mon, Rikku. Let's take a look."

"Y'know, it'd be really nice if you went ahead and let go of my arm," I mutter, but I follow him. Why is he dragging me to the stupid hole? He hasn't talked to me in months and all of a sudden he wants to look into the mess that Shuyin made? For what? To be all buddy-buddy about old times? Yeah, no thanks.

"Here we are. Did you ever jump in this one?" He drops his hand. For a second, I let my arm hover, staring at him, and then I let it fall.

"Nah. Yunie decided on the one in Bevelle." I rub at the place where his hand gripped my forearm. It doesn't hurt, but the spot is weirdly cold. "Did you?"

" 'Course I did, more than once. Easiest access, right?" He smiles, but his gaze feels sharp.

"Uh, right." I turn away from him and stare into the hole. It doesn't look like much, just a giant, black space in the ground, surrounded by a few shimmering pyreflies. "It's gotta still lead to the farplanes, though, right? I mean, the pyreflies are still here."

"There aren't as many, though. Maybe they just don't know where else to go." He rubs at the back of his neck and adds quietly, "I know how that goes."

My head tilts towards him, but he's looking at the wall. It's a weirdly personal thing for Gippal to say. I turn away, deciding it's best not to say anything, and step forward until I'm at the edge of the mouth of the thing. Darkness. I kneel, leaning forward. "Wow, you still can't see a thing in here," I say. My voice echoes faintly.

"Don't stand so close to that thing!" His footsteps scuttle closer to me.

I turn to smirk at him. "Pssht, whatever. I'm the master of balance, Gippal."

"Aren't you the one that caused the machina malfunction on the Highroad? Y'know, by losing your balance and falling onto a machina?"

"I was on very tall ruins," I mutter. "That's totally different." I lean back on my heels, staring back into the recess. "_Hmm. _There's a way besides jumping in to see if it still goes to the farplane."

"Oh? And what's that?"

I dig around my dress until I find a small pouch and retrieve a spare iron bangle. "Drop stuff," I chirp. "C'mere. You've gotta be closer to listen."

More shuffling noises, and he kneels down next to me, not quite as close to the mouth as I am. "You sure you wanna toss that away?"

I snort. "Please. These are easy to come by, and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah. Just drop the bangle, master explorer."

"You got it," I chirp, ignoring the sarcasm. After all, I really _am _a master explorer. I shift to my knees for better balance, reach my arm out and—drop! I lean my body over the mouth of the hole to watch the thing spiral down into darkness. It spins out of sight, but there's no noise that bounces back to let me know it's landed.

"Looks like it hasn't closed up," Gippal proclaims. "At least, not anywhere close by."

"Or maybe you didn't wait long enough and your voice covered it up," I retort. I brace my hands on the edge of the hole and lean forward, my braid hanging into the recess. I know there's some kind of light shining from the farplane, but I can't see a thing. Could it be seen before? I didn't lean in this far before.

"Whoa, _hey!" _The sudden explosion of noise startles me and my hands lose their grip, leaving my body to slide forward out of control. It's not even for a second, because right after the noise come thick arms around my waist that yank me backwards.

I snap my head backwards to look at Gippal. "What—were you _doing?" _I don't sound as aggressive as I want to because I can't get control of my breathing. Near-death experiences are _not _good for the body.

"What was I doing? What were _you _doing?" he snaps. He doesn't have nearly as hard a time with aggression. His arms tighten around my waist as he glares. "You don't know what's down there! What if the farplane wasn't there to slow you down?"

"I wasn't gonna _jump!" _I retort. "I just wanted to know if I could see the farplane light!"

"If you can't see it from where you were, what makes you think leaning in is gonna do you any good?" His voice is muffled behind clenched teeth. "You almost fell in!"

"I did _not_!" I struggle against his arms. For a second, his hold tightens, but then he practically throws me off his lap. I jump to my feet and whirl around. "I totally had my balance until you decided to yell at me! I was fine!"

He's on his feet, too, lumbering towards me angrily. My body moves back automatically. _Traitor. _"You were not fine!" he snaps. "You were—that was—" He stops, throwing his hands into the air before crossing them.

"That was what, Gippal?"

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Too close," he says softly. "That was too close." His face is calm, almost cold. "Well, did ya find what you were looking for?"

"What?" He's still mad. This is a different kind of anger, though. It reminds me of Paine—but no, Paine is more scary than this, still ready to snap. He's just cold. "The light, you mean? I couldn't see anything but black."

"Then I guess that was for nothin', huh?" He smirks at me. "Try not to get yourself killed over something this dumb. It's just a hole, remember?"

"I—you—ugh!" Good comeback, Rikku. Super eloquent. The foot stomp I give adds to the total picture of maturity.

"You should get out of here. The cloister is closed to the party." His tone is casual, but it's clear that he means business.

My jaw drops. He stares at me for a moment longer and then turns his back to me, towards the chamber. Well, then. Guess I'm not getting any explanation, there. "Enjoy your hole," I mutter, turning towards the lift.

The thing whirs to life and carries me down. I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of looking up to see if he watches me. The visit to the cloister is a confusing mess, but there are a couple of clear points. The first is that those robe guys are bad news. I dunno what they're doing with the pyreflies or that hole, and I don't know _what _that thing they used on the wall is, but none of it can add up too well.

The second thing is at least a little more clear. I don't know what his issue is, but it's obvious that Gippal doesn't want much at all to do with me.


	4. The Invention

When I hit the main room of the cloister and the Machine Faction workers give me apologetic smiles, I'm still dazed. When I hit the crowded outer temple, reality begins to return to me. By the time I'm outside of the temple, I'm furious. A few people call my name in greeting, but I storm past them, seeking the less-crowded bridge. I can't even think about the masked guys right now. My focus is entirely on Gippal.

What's his angle, anyway? He ignored me for months. Months! And now he shows up and grabs my arm. He shows up and asks me about the hole like he's seeking old times. He mutters something private and then watches with me to see the bottom. And then he—he grabs me and gets _angry! _Angry at me? _He's_ the one who almost killed me! And then that cool dismissal. He's been distant with me before—less than a year ago, in fact—but not like this. He seemed…oh, what's the word I've heard Paine use before? Contemptuous. He seemed totally contemptuous.

I move to the rail of the bridge, gripping the base of a spire. None of it makes sense. Gippal doesn't make sense, and those bad-news guys definitely don't. Is something new going on in Spira? Maybe I should ask around about it. I've learned to be pretty good at getting information from people that don't want to talk. _Ramm, _maybe the innkeeper has some new data on it. I've got tons of gil to spare. That's maybe the biggest bonus right now to being a spherehunter. There's nothing I can't afford, including information.

"Rikku." I tense, turning on my heel, but it's only Paine. Her brows raise in suspicion. "The look on your face. Did you take me for a fiend?"

"Of course not." I laugh nervously, moving forward. My hands are in the air to hug her, but I stop myself. Paine isn't much for hugging, usually. "How have you been, Paine? You look great!"

"Same as ever, you mean. You've changed, though. Your hair. And that dress." She looks it over carefully, turning me by the shoulder to check out the back. "It's a dressphere, isn't it? I've never used it."

"Uh-huh. It's a rogue. Pretty useful." That's an understatement. "How's your book coming along?"

"There's a lot of editing left to do. I've been occupied." She puts a hand to her temple and shakes her head. "Nooj and Baralai convinced me to work on the spheres you found. Damn boring stuff."

"No kidding! What're they looking for, anyway?"

"Not sure. They have me record details of the spheres on paper. Then they spend hours in the Mushroom Rock Road headquarters, poring over them."

"Tidus thinks they're looking for peace," I offer.

"Peace." She tilts her head, considering. "There's a novelty."

"He thinks we're really bad at it. And he'd know, wouldn't he? He lived in a time of peace. I've heard him tell the stories. Great big machina cities where the lights never go out and no one ever sleeps! Can you imagine?"

"I've been looking at them for months."

"Oh. Right." I drag my toe against the stone of the bridge when she doesn't say anything else. Paine's not much for talking. It's weird she even came this far to find me. "So, uhhh." I look up at her cautiously. "Everyone's been coming together, yeah? And Gippal's been busy with that, hasn't he?"

"He comes when things get out of hand. Why?"

Guess I'm not so good at being casual. "Oh, I was just wondering," I say, abandoning the toe-dragging to rock from foot to foot. "I guess it's just. He acted really weird when I saw him earlier."

"Hmm. Nooj may have said something about trouble with his new project."

"The one he's gonna announce tonight?" I ask brightly. "Do you know anything about it? C'mon, spill!"

She frowns. "Gippal only mentioned that it's important. He came to Bevelle one day and asked us if we'd been in the Chamber recently. Of course we hadn't." She pauses, considering. "He seemed concerned."

"Ooo, that's bad news. It takes a lot of any kinda emotion for Gippal to show it." Like shouting at me inside the chamber. My cheeks are suddenly hot.

"I know." The suspicious look is back on her face. "Is there something going on, Rikku?"

"What? Nope. Nothing at all is going on. Unless you count the party. That's going on preeetty strongly."

"Don't concern yourself with Gippal, Rikku. We both know how he is."

We do? "Wait, wait, wait, what? Did you guys have something going on in the Crimson Squad?"

Paine snorts. "Gippal? No. He flirted. He flirts with everyone. Why?"

Her tone is _teasing. _Paine is _teasing. _Red alert! "Because—because you said he—we both know how he works," I say weakly.

"I did. You grew up with him, and we spent time together in the war. We both know him well." She arches a brow at me, stepping forward. "What did you think that I meant?"

I take a step back to match hers, pressing against the bridge. "Well, uh, I—y'see, uhm—I didn't really mean—"

"Were you thinking romantically?" She smirks. I feel like a trapped fiend. "You asked if I had something 'going on' with him. That implies that you have had something 'going on' with him. But you said that nothing happened, didn't you?"

"Nothing happened!" I squeak. I can't even be mad at myself this time. She's got me cornered! "I just meant—I mean—we've never dated!" This, at least, is the truth. I'd thought that maybe…but no.

"Have you ever—kissed?" She leans forward to blow the word into my face.

"No way!"

"But you've thought about it." This isn't even a question.

"I haven't—okay, maybe a little, but I've thought about kissing other people, too!" Tidus, years ago, before I knew Yunie was perfect for him. And there's been…no, that's about it. Just Tidus. And I can't even imagine kissing him now without guilt and disgust. Tidus was just a cute face and a fast crush.

She stays in my face, forcing me to look her right in the eye. Her expression is totally neutral, which only makes me more nervous. Finally, after what seems like forever, she leans back. "Right." She turns to walk away and then stops, glancing over her shoulder. "Rikku?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful."

I offer a little salute. "That's me! Careful is my middle name."

She offers a doubtful look and then turns back to make her way down the bridge. "Careful is the opposite of you."

"Heyy!" I'm pretty sure she laughs as she moves back into the crowd.

Is Paine giving me relationship advice? Not that I have much of a need for it, but wow, that's almost weirder than those guys in the cloister _that I totally could have asked Paine about. _I could've asked her something important to, like, I dunno, the _world. _And what do I go for? Gippal. I really need to sort out my priorities.

Well, there's definitely no point in moping around. I toss my braid behind me and make my way back to the crowd. Even with all the weird stuff going down, I'm still surrounded by all of my friends, and it's an opportunity that I'm not about to pass up.

Tidus and Yuna are where I left them, surrounded by a sizable crowd. Tidus is a natural. He grins at everyone, and every time he speaks there's a roar of laughter. Yunie is more subdued, all soft words and hand touches, but it definitely works. I watch from the outskirts for just a moment and then slide my way over next to Tidus. It's shocking even now to see how people act in a group. Before, they were tense, cut-off from the world and especially from Al Bhed like me. They stand more casually, now. They laugh more. They don't glance over their shoulders every few seconds. I have a lot of time to observe everyone because I'm just not as interesting as Yuna and her love. People do come up just for me, though: Al Bhed filled with gossip about what projects are going on, who's falling in love with whom, and any babies sprouting up. The hours pass easily with all of the commotion. I only think about what happened in the cloister once, when conversation pauses to watch a few Hypello drag out a traveling stage. My distraction thankfully returns soon after.

" 'TENTION, EVERYONE!" I jump at the unbelievably loud voice. It's Cid, and he's got a microphone: anyone's worst nightmare. "GIPPAL'S ABOUT TE MAKE THE ANNOUNCEMENT, SO IF YA WANT TO SEE WHAT YA CAME FOR THEN MAKE YER WAY RIGHT OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE!"

"About time!" a woman shouts. Murmurs of agreement ripple through the crowd. Is it really getting late? I glance to the sky. Daylight's turned to dusk. Huh. When did that happen?

A firm hand on my elbow tugs at me. I look up at Tidus, prepared to complain. "We need to get there before the crowd fills in," he says in response, offering a grin. I let the protest die on my lips and move forward according to his tugging.

We move into a space that is quickly becoming the middle of the second row. People are pouring in, now: out of the temple, the bridge, the small rest area. "Looks like you were right," I chirp to Tidus.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good with crowds." He says it like it's the rarest and most important skill in the world. Yunie and I exchange eye rolls.

"Hey. Move. No, I don't care. _Hey!" _The shout is in my ear. I turn as Paine squeezes in next to me, tossing a glare over her shoulder. "Idiots."

"Oh, hey, you made it," I say dryly.

"These people are like animals," she mutters.

"Hello, Paine!" Yuna chirps. Paine nods.

"WEEEELL LOOKIE HERE!" Cid is shrieking into the microphone again. Gippal's clambered up beside him during Paine's appearance. He offers the crowd the ol' wince-and-shrug. "HAVEN' SEEN A CROWD THIS BIG SINCE YUNA'S CONCERT!" I nudge at Yunie, and she ducks her face into Tidus' shoulder. "ANYWAY, HERE'S GIPPAL. GUESS I'LL JUST LET 'IM TAKE ON OVER."

The loud cheers are probably more of a response to Cid not having the microphone than Gippal speaking. He basks in the attention anyway, bowing at the waist. Once the cheering dies down, he grips the microphone and scans his audience. "Wow. Quite the crowd, huh? Now, I know you all didn't come just for this little invention, right? Spira loves its gatherings. I hope everyone had the opportunity to catch up with old friends. And how 'bout that food, yeah?"

The crowd cheers appreciatively. "I forgot there was food," I moan, a hand going to my stomach. "I've hardly eaten all day!"

"Maybe you can find something on the way out," Yuna suggests, frowning sympathetically. Tidus and Paine laugh, not so sympathetic.

"'Aanyway, now it's time to see what you guys really came for. Sorta." He clears his throat. "Since the Calm came, we've been workin' more with machina. I think this might be the coolest, 'n' it's definitely the most useful. I can't just show you, though—it'd be kiiinda creepy, really, and you wouldn't understand anyway." There's a collection of confused murmurs and bored sighs. "I'm sure Nooj is a pretty familiar name to all of you?" The cheers that answer rival the opening ones. "Ha, I figured. Well, our fearless co-leader is gonna come on up here and demonstrate our newest revolution for you. Just wait: betcha he'll say it's life-changing."

There's a shuffle and a clamber, and then Nooj is onstage. The place is dead silent, now, charged with energy. It can't be Nooj, right? The guy up there has Nooj's face, his long brown hair, and his glasses. He wears the same red armor. But there's no cane. And more importantly, there's no _machina. _

"_Hu fyo!" _The shout rings out, breaking the silence. It's only when I feel everyone's eyes on me that I recognize that I did the shouting.

"No way, huh?" Gippal asks, grinning right at me. Grinning. After he'd turned me away like that. This is a dream. Today has to be a dream. I must have gotten my nap after all.

"Yes way," Nooj says, although he doesn't sound so sure, himself. He clears his throat and then steps towards the microphone. His footing is unsure, maybe, but not limping. Gippal steps back for him with a sweeping gesture, and the man clears his throat and leans in to the microphone. "Believe it or not—and I'm sure you'll have some difficulty believing—this is not a trick. This." He spreads his arms wide, showing how they match. "This is what you all came here, for. I can't tell you how this works, or why. I don't have that kind of knowledge. I only know that for the first time in so long, I feel entirely human. However, don't fret. I'm sure Gippal can and will explain far better than I ever could."

Gippal steps forward, giving an enthusiastic nod. "Right! This here—" He grabs Nooj's arm and holds it aloft—"this is a _bnucdradel. _We combined pyreflies and machines to create these limbs. The machina looks like metal bones before being attached to its owner." There's an alarmed murmur that he catches onto quickly. "Ah, sorry, the machine. The _machine _looks like metal bones. The infused pyreflies bond the metal to skin, creating a limb that looks, feels, and most importantly _acts _like any other limb." He releases Nooj's arm. His voice grows solemn as he continues. "Many of you fought valiantly to defeat Sin and suffered for your efforts. Still more have suffered accidents." His hand moves halfway to his face before falling to the microphone. "There've even been cases of people born without function. I know a whole lot of you aren't here because you like to stick to the shadows. Well, not anymore. Please, take this gift that we have worked hard for you on. Please, allow us to help you. Spira needs to heal in more ways than one."

He steps back, eyes bright as they scan the crowd. I've never seen them more intense There's silence for a long moment, and then a single cheer. A hesitant, "Gippal!" When the voice raises again, it's met by others, and still more the next time, until the entire crowd is chanting his name.

"Thank you." Gippal leans forward to speak his appreciation into the microphone, but between the crowd and the way his voice cracks, it's doubtful that anyone notices.

Spira is proud and happy—for now. I'm amazed, myself, but I know how this world works. After the excitement dies down, there will be questions. With the questions will come suspicions. I know this as well as I know my own name, and I'm sure that somewhere under the emotion Gippal does, too.

The way his eyes are shining, though….and the look of astonishment on Nooj's face as he moves across the makeshift stage. These are what make me, in spite of all doubt, cup my hands to my mouth and shout his name.

His eyes snap to mine as if he somehow hears my voice through the crowd, and the look in them is enough to make me believe, just for a moment.


	5. The Catalyst

Nooj moving off the stage is what brings the chanting to a halt. The crowd funnels in towards him, forming a wide circle. They push against each other, reaching, demanding to feel these miracle limbs. Thankfully, Nooj remains impressively calm. He shouts over people, attempting to calm the frenzy and promising that everyone that wants to see the tech will get to before they leave.

"Incredible," Paine murmurs. I remember then that I am surrounded by my friends. Their faces share the same mark of astonishment.

"Incredible is right!" Tidus exclaims. "I lived in cities made totally of machines and I've never seen anything like _that!" _

"We must congratulate Nooj," Yunie decides. Her voice is hesitant, though, her gaze on the frenzied crowd.

"Those people would eat you alive right now," Paine remarks, "Spira's greatest hero be damned."

"So we'll just wait our turn and then talk to him once all the excitement dies down," I suggest brightly. "It'll be fun to watch everyone go wild, anyway."

"Fun. Right," Paine mutters, shaking her head. She makes fun, sure, but she doesn't argue. We make our way as a group towards the outskirts of the large ring.

"Rikku. 'Ey, Rikku!" I whirl around as the voice grows closer: Gippal, running towards me. He stops short just in front of me. "Can I. Uh. Talk to you for a minute?"

"Uhh. Sure. What's up?"

"No, not. Not." He throws a gaze towards the crowd. "Not here."

"Uuuuhhhhh." I drag out the sound longer than the first, glancing towards my friends. Concern has replaced astonishment for the moment, and it's what makes my choice. "Sure. I'll catch up with you guys later, a'right?"

"Rikku," Yuna begins slowly. I can practically feel her formulating some excuse.

"We'll say goodbye if we finish before you," Paine interrupts. She and Yuna exchange glances for a long moment before the ex-summoner turns to me and nods.

"See ya later!" Gippal exclaims, and then turns to me with a grin. He snatches my hand, entangling his fingers with my own. He tugs me forward at a jog.

"Are you okay?" I ask cautiously. This all seems to be very un-Gippal behavior as of late.

He laughs. "I'm flying! Did you see Nooj? It worked so great! Ah, man, everyone loved it."

I can't help but feel my own mood lighten, suspicion lifting. I'm all over the place today. "You did a really good job up there," I tell him, squeezing his fingers. "Y'know, you can be pretty good with words when you wanna."

"You should hear some of the Al Bhed curses I've come up with lately," he quips. "You really think so, though?"

"Definitely," I agree. We're in the temple, now. I stop jogging, but he keeps tugging. "Whoa, where're we going? The temple's empty."

"Back to the chamber of fayth," he tells me. His voice is a little more serious now, and his pace is slower. "I've—gotta tell you stuff."

Welp. There goes my good mood. Again. "I'm not allowed back there, remember? _You _kicked me out." I pull my hand back, but he clings to it.

"Just a minute, all right? Hear me out."

"Start talking," I retort crossly.

"Not yet. There're workers in the cloister."

The workers give us a cheery greeting. They don't seem surprised that Gippal's holding my hand after he so rudely kicked me out. Too bad. That would've really made my point. Then again, they're probably used to him by now.

He doesn't say anything as we head up the stairs, and there's no way I'm gonna be the one to speak first. The rest of the walk is all silence.

He glances to me as the lift comes to a stop at the top. "I'm still flying, so maybe this isn't the best idea, but I'm gonna tell you something no one else knows about, 'kay?"

"You are?" What's with this guy? He ignores my existence for months, and suddenly I'm his top-clearance confidant?

"Yeah. And I'm gonna trust you to keep it between us." His look here is meaningful.

"No problem there! I'm the best at secrets." Sorta.

He raises a brow. "Uh-huhh." Ah, there's the Gippal I know. "See, the thing is, when I saw you up here earlier, I panicked."

"Uh. Why? It's not like I haven't been here before."

"That's part of the reason," he says slowly. "See, uh, we had a little—incident."

"An incident?" I parrot.

He nods. "No one in the Machine Faction comes up here, y'see. It's kinda useless to us with that giant hole. _Someone _came up here a few weeks ago, though."

"An ex-summoner?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Doubtful. When they come, and it's rare since this temple is all 'defiled with machina' and whatnot, they ask to enter. Whoever showed up didn't ask. They managed to get into the cloister without anyone noticing and hang around this hole." He scratches the back of his neck. "What for, I have no idea. That wouldn't be a huge deal, I guess, except when they got into the cloister, they took some pretty important stuff."

"What kinda stuff?"

He lets out a slow breath. "We had a rough prototype of the _bnucdradel. _Not even half-finished, but they took it anyway. And they left us a little present."

Are my eyes about to pop out of my skull? Maybe. "Something tells me it's not such a good present."

"Not at all." He pulls at my hand, leading me forward into the chamber itself. "The wall."

"The wall?" He points, and I follow the direction. Straight across from us, in huge lettering, reads: _Fa femm neca._ How did I manage to miss that before?"We will rise?" I ask, furrowing my brow.

"Yeah. Doesn't sound too good, does it?" It's not really a question. He rubs at his temple with his free hand. "I've been trying to figure out for weeks what it all means, who it could be connected to. You wanna know what I came up with? A big fat load of nothing. So I got a little paranoid—no, a lot paranoid. And then I saw you here, in this room when you shoulda been down in the crowd, and you had the lamest excuse, and I started adding up facts."

"Hmm. Let me guess. I know the place? I know machina? I'm Al Bhed?" I try to play it off lightly.

He must sense the anger, because his face sorta…crumples. "Yeah. I know, I know. But I was totally outta leads, y'know? And there you were, where you weren't supposed to be for no good reason. So I jumped on it. I fumed about it right up until it was time to show off the tech. But then, I got so swept up in the crowd that I couldn't be angry. Which means, of course, that I couldn't be irrational. What finally did it was seeing your face in that crowd, when everyone cheered. I think you took the longest. But the way you shouted my name, and the look on your face—I just. I knew it wasn't you. Think I knew the whole time."

"I was hiding from you," I blurt out.

He freezes. His head tilts to the right. "What?"

"When I ran up here. I was hiding from you. I didn't want to stick around so you could not-talk to me some more."

"Ahh." He wipes a hand down his face. "I—"

"I don't wanna talk about it," I interrupt firmly. "Besides, I've got more important stuff to tell you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I think I have your lead."

"My lead? But you didn't even know about it."

"You're right. When it happened, I had no idea what was going on. But it makes total sense, now."

"All right, your turn." He squeezes my hand, and I almost jump. I forgot he was still holding it. Weird. "Spill."

I rotate on my heel to face him, tilting my chin upwards. "When I came back here, I was only thinking about hiding. I figured I might as well go all the way back since I was here, yeah?"

"You never have done anything halfway."

"Hey! Are you teasing me? That's not very nice. This is super serious, remember?"

"Super serious," he echoes. There's a teasing note, but it fades as he adds, "Go on."

"I wasn't alone. As soon as I hit the lift, I heard voices. Al Bhed ones. So I moved into the room right next to the chamber and pressed against the wall to listen. They were saying—weird stuff. There was this one guy with a creepy voice. He called the other guys his disciples, and they called him master. Super weird, yeah? He talked about how he was gonna take care of them. But the most important part is _why _he was taking care of them. He was all concerned about 'sorting out _technical aspects._ And his 'disciples'? They were worried about how to transport pyreflies."

"They—wh—_what_?" Gippal is sputtering. I've only ever heard him sputter once before, and that was at seeing Paine before. "They're trying to. They want to. What, they want to recreate the tech? _Fryd dra ramm vun?" What the hell for?_

"I dunno! I just put two and two together, like, now. With all the commotion around your big announcement I forgot that this even happened." I scrunch my nose thoughtfully. "Maybe they're trying to make a rival company?"

"A rival company to what, the Machine Faction? There's no rival to that!"

"Yet."

"There's no way they'd succeed," he says stubbornly.

"Maybe not, but wouldn't it make sense? They steal your tech. They have some kinda master. They even have uniforms! They're really weird. They look like robes, but Al Bhed robes? Still, though: uniforms. And they wrote on your wall that they're gonna rise."

"Huh. Maybe you're right. They could be tryin' to outdo us. Not that they'd have much success. I didn't know any Al Bhed had grudges against us, though."

"Some people hide their feelings well," I point out. "So well, in fact, that you think they mean one thing and then suddenly it becomes super clear that they mean something totally different."

He narrows his eye at me. "Are you—"

"Am I what?" I chirp. "Am I saying that maybe they pretended not to have a problem so they could have the advantage? Why, yes, I totally am."

"No. I meant. I meant that." He looks at me for a long moment, and then sighs. "Oh, never mind. There are more important things right now. Like first of all, how did they sneak in? Or out? You said they were dressed weird. Someone shoulda noticed."

"They had this weird machina," I explain. "It looked like half a sphere, and it pulsated all green. He put it in the cloister wall, and it opened up this weird hole. It disappeared when they all stepped through it."

"I've never heard of tech like that," he says, sounding a little awed and a _lot _envious. "There are more questions, though. For example, if these weirdo Al Bheds with a grudge against the rest of us were right there_,_ how'd _you_ get out without some kinda fight?"

"Oh, that's easy. I hid."

"You hid." He looks at me doubtfully. I offer a nod. He raises his brow and then tugs at my hand yet again, leading me into the next room. "This place is totally empty. Where'd you hide?"

"Against the wall," I reply in a singsong voice. This is a blast!

"Rikku, are you telling me that I have not just competition, but blind competition? They're even trying to one-up me on _that?" _

"Nooo. They could see." I wink at him. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Such as?"

"I'll show you." I yank my hand backwards. This time, he releases it. I wiggle my fingers, getting accustomed to the lack of warm pressure, and toss him a grin. I step backwards slowly, arms flat with my palms facing behind me. I stop when I feel the wall against my hands and then lean my body slowly against it. "Ready? Close your eyes! Er, eye."

"Rikku, _fryd dra ramm?" _

"Just do it. Come ooon!"

"You're crazy," he mutters, but he obliges, squeezing his eye shut tightly enough that I can see his skin wrinkling.

_Okay, dressphere, do your thing. _I close my own eyes for a second to find that hum of power, and then let them snap open. I coax it forward. Again, there's the engulfing rush, and then it subsides, still in my bloodstream but not overwhelming me. I peek down to make sure I blend before chirping, "'Kay, you can look, now!"

"This is the worst game of hide-and-seek ever," he announces. He relaxes the muscle around his eye—or is it both of them? Do all of the muscles still work?—and then pivots on his heel to scan the room. "Hey, running away is cheating!"

"I'm not running away," I croon. He whirls around, facing my voice. It's not that weird to see him looking through me instead of at me. This is just the first time I'm really invisible.

_Bad Rikku. Don't be dumb._

"What—you-where are you?" he exclaims. He's sputtering again. I think I like sputtering Gippal.

"I'm right here!"

"How're you throwing your voice like that?"

"I'm not throwing my voice."

"You're not there!" He marches forward, sounding exasperating, and comes to a halt about an inch in front of my toes. I hold my breath to keep it from fanning across his face. He narrows that one eye, scouring every detail, and then reaches a hand forward. It doesn't have to travel far at all before it brushes my braid.

The look on his face is practically art. "I've never seen anyone so shocked!" I tease, giggling.

"You really are right here," he murmurs. He buries his fingers into my braid, stopping me mid-laugh.

"Heyy, you're gonna unravel it," I whine.

"How are you doing that?" he asks, ignoring my protest.

"It's a new dressphere. It lets me blend into surroundings. When I stop touching the wall it goes away, though. I can't be invisible in the middle of the room. What a waste." I pout even though he can't see it.

"Huh." His fingers are deep in the braid, now. "Incredible. Shinra's a genius."

"Obviously," I say. "Uhh, what're you doing?"

"Ruining all your hard work." He takes his fingers and twists them downwards quickly before I can say anything. He's managed to get just the right angle, so it all comes unraveled before I even have time to think about it.

"Heyy!" I swat his hand away, my own becoming briefly visible. He doesn't even notice. "How old are you, twelve?"

"Give or take a few years." His hand returns to stroke at my hair. "_Tysh, _your hair's long."

"Oh, stop. Haven't you tortured it enough?" I grab at his wrist to stop him before he can tangle my hair up.

He takes several steps backward without warning, using my grip on his wrist to yank me into visibility. "Torture," he murmurs, his voice barely above a whisper, "is a word I've thought about a lot in the past year or so."

"Wha'?" is all I can manage. Brilliant. I shuffle back a step and drop my gaze to my boots. A minute ago, we were talking about life-or-death situations, and now all of a sudden he's doing…what is he doing? Is he doing what I think he's doing? Why is this happening? I'd like to go back to the life-or-death, please.

"You don't wanna talk about it. I get it. I'll wait." A finger comes up to lift my chin and holds it there. He waits for me to meet his gaze. "But eventually, you knowit's gonna come up."

"I—don't know what you're talking about." This close, his eyes are almost more grey than green. My hand falls away from his wrist, and he captures it in his own.

"Ah, but you do." He entangles each one of our fingers, slowly but deliberately. "It always seems like only one of us knows about this at one time, doesn't it? But we always know, don't we? Both of us."

"Uhmmmm."

"Don't worry. I won't make you talk about it right now. But listen closely, little _dreav_." His hand moves swiftly from my hand to my back, pressing me forward until we're toe to toe. "This is not the end of this conversation. This is just the beginning."

"Gippal!" I'm not sure where to go from squeaking his name, but it turns out I don't even have to worry about it. He releases me just as suddenly as he'd grabbed me and steps back.

That _stupid _smirk is on his face. I don't think I've ever hated it more. "I'll find you soon," he says, offering a wave before turning on his heel to walk out. He only gets a few steps before halting. "Oh, yeah. Rikku?"

"Huh?" I manage.

He starts walking again. "I've dreamed of you with your hair down."


	6. The Warning

Calli is up and ready to go by the time I drag myself down the stairs. "G'morning, sleepyhead," she says, _way _too chipper to my groggy head. I'm usually a little grouchy in the morning, but today is especially bad. My mouth is dry, my head achy. My eyelids are heavy even though I just slept.

"Mmm. What time is it?"

"It's a little past midday. You slept half of today away," she responds cheerily.

"What? Aww, man." No wonder I feel so awful. "Guess I caught up with that nap I missed."

"And then some!" Calli agrees. "Hey, you didn't get that much sleep and yesterday was really big. I say you totally had the excuse."

"Good to know someone's got my back." I slide onto one of the barstools and set about finger-combing my hair. "So did you enjoy yourself last night?"

"Definitely!" She beams. "I love when everyone gets together like that. I got the chance to talk to people I met on the road, before I came on the airship with you guys. Clasko was there."

"I didn't see him," I say, feeling a little guilty. "Guess you got your chocobo-gushing fix, huh?"

"And then some!" She plants her elbows on the table, giving a roll of her eyes as she leans onto her hands. "I like Clasko. He's a really nice person. And you know I can always appreciate some chocobo love. But man, it's all he ever talks about! I don't think he knows how to care about anything _but _chocobos, poor guy."

"Is that why you're not helping out at the ranch with him?"

"Mostly." She gives a little hum and then reaches forward to tug at a strand of my hair. "Your hair's _really _long."

"Yeah, I guess." Her own hair is no longer in the little-girl pigtail style she'd worn for years before. She's cut off most of it, and it hangs loose around her chin. It makes her look older, and her cheekbones are wonderful. _Older. _Did she change the subject like that on purpose? I'm paranoid about romance all over again. I switch from finger-combing to the braid-switching process. "Weird that there hasn't been some sorta mission cropping up, yet."

"I dunno. It's kind of a nice break. Are you bored already?"

"You know me. Gotta keep moving." I really do, especially today. The comment about my hair is bringing up things that I really don't wanna think about. At least if I'm hunting down a sphere I can concentrate on much more preferable things. Like trying not to die, for example.

"No kidding," she laughs. Her eyes are on my fingers, nearly finished. "You braid fast."

"You get quick when you do it all the time." I tie off the end with the ribbon: red, to match this new dressphere. I don't think I'm changing it anytime soon. If I can go invisible, what else can I do? "I think I'm gonna go bug Buddy about sphere waves."

"I think I'll stick around down here." She yawns loudly. "Maybe I'll take a nap if we're not doing anything."

"Good! As soon as you try, something'll come up. Or maybe that's just me." I offer a long-suffering sigh, and then I'm off.

Buddy and Brother are standing around the giant sphere-globe in the middle, laughing about something stupid, I'm sure. I hop off the railing and march over to them. "You guys sure look busy," I accuse.

Buddy raises a brow. "There's nothin' to be busy about. Spira's nice and calm today. We haven't picked up a single sphere wave."

"When was the last time you checked?" I challenge.

"Whoa, where's this coming from? Yesterday you were all about your nap," he retorts.

"I got my nap back—and then some. C'mon, guys, I'm booored," I whine.

"I told you, nothing's coming up." He frowns, a hand going to his chin. "Well, I guess we can go check out Luca if you wanna. Sphere break's in full swing. Plus, they've got the scoop on last night's announcement."

"The scoop? Is Gippal gonna be there?"

"Nah. They tried, but he was busy. They've got Cid and Shinra though. I think they're hoping they'll balance each other out."

"Why?" Brother asks harshly. I peek towards him. His face is all suspicion."

"Oh, uh, no reason. Just. Making conversation," I chirp. "Let's go to Luca, Buddy."

"Sure thing. I'll set the coordinates."

"Put it on autopilot," Brother declares. "I don't feel like steering today."

Uh-oh.

"You got it," Buddy says slowly, his voice lilting up at the end in question. Brother never misses the opportunity to sit at the helm and make orders he doesn't need to.

Brother turns his attention to me. "Let's go to the deck." He grabs at my upper arm, not leaving much room for protest.

"Sure thing." Apparently, a new day isn't making the squeaking today. I think I know exactly what he wants to talk about, though, and I'm _really _not comfortable. We make our way to the deck in a sort of tense silence.

"It's really nice outside, today," I chirp, making my way towards the end of the deck. It _is _nice. The wind feels great.

"Rikku." He trails off, sighs. "I'm worried."

"Worried? You? Not about me, surely?" I glance over my shoulder to smirk at him. "Anyway, what for?"

"You know what for." He huffs. "Rikku. You like Gippal. You like Gippal a lot. _Gippal _likes Gippal a lot. Do you see how bad that is?""

"What?" I whirl around to glare at him. My braid smacks him on the chest. _Good. _"What are you talking about? I don't even like—"

"Rikku, don't lie to me. You've had a big—crush on him since we were kids. Remember all the discounts you tried to give him? I see how you look at him. Or how you look when you even think about him. But he's bad news. He has to get over himself before he could ever love anyone."

"I—" Ooh, I'm so _mad! _He acts like I'm half in love with Gippal and doesn't even look at me! It's like he's talking to me about something he found on the road or something!

"You're mad. You always get mad when someone says something you won't admit. Now you're just gonna attack—"

"_Crid ib!" _I shout. I wring my hands and then bring them to my ears. "You don't know me! You don't know what I want! I don't even know what I want!"

He looks at me calmly. He's not even getting mad, which just makes me angrier. It's not like Brother to just take it. I want him to fight back. I want him to get mad and scream and maybe even exchange fists instead of words, but he's just so…_mild! _"Rikku," he says simply, giving me this pitying look. "Just…be careful."

I do my best to scoff like Paine. "Right, sure, because there's something to be careful about? You're wrong, Brother. I'm fine."

"Right," he repeats, just as mildly. "But if and when that is ever not true just remember I warned you—and I guess, if you fall apart I'm here. I kind of have to or—whatever."

I can't decide whether this makes me want to hit him more or less. The relationship between Brother and I isn't exactly riddled with affection. I guess if he's taking me into account, I should be a grown-up about it and let him. Being mature sucks. "Hmmph."

He shoves his hands into the pockets of his stupid overalls. His face is neutral, although maybe there's a bit of a grimace. "Rikku. It's not—you I don't trust. I know you can take care of yourself. I just don't trust him."

I grin. "Brother, are you complimenting me? Are you calling me a real-life adult?"

"_Crid ib," _he says affectionately, reaching over to tug my braid. I fight him, and he drops a heavy arm around my shoulders. "Maybe that's what I'm saying."

"Ya think so, really?" I peek at him.

He nods. "I wish—that more people could be like you."

"Brother!" I squeal and knock into him, wrapping into a side hug that almost sends us both to the deck floor.

He rubs my shoulder. "All right, all right. Don't get us killed!"

"Thank you." I squeeze at his side before dropping my arms away. He removes his arm from my shoulders, stuffing his hands into his pockets again.

"Don't thank me for the truth."

"LANDING!" Buddy's warning comes loud and clear over the speakers.

"ALL RIGHT!" Brother shouts, even though there's no way he can be heard. He offers me a grin. "Let's terrorize Luca."

"That's the plan," I chirp. We fall into step beside each other, normally at first, but then I push at him with my hip to knock him over, and he pushes at me, and we're pushing each other all the way to the door, our arms intertwining to keep each other up even as we try to push each other over.

I guess, really, that's how we always work.


	7. The Downtime

Luca is more packed than usual today. Some of it is probably Sphere Break, but I bet most of the people came for Shelinda and her broadcast. Buddy, Calli, and Brother move off to check out the Break crowd, but I stick around in the city's center. There's a break in the broadcasting, I guess. Shelinda is nowhere to be seen, but Cid and Shinra are seated on a bench and Nooj stands near the fountain, surrounded by a small crowd of people. His words become clear as I approach.

"It really does feel like my other arm. _Ow, _yes, I do feel it when you pinch me. Thanks for the experiment, though." Nooj's voice is strained, but still polite. He glances up as we approach. Relief softens his features. "Rikku! Excuse me, I'd like to talk to my friend for a few moments. Don't worry. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for questions later." He pushes his way through the small crowd. They pout, but let him go and form a tight circle to gossip.

"They're inexhaustible," Nooj complains as he moves to us. I can't help but watch his gait again. His movements are totally normal, no limp at all. Even the hesitance from yesterday is gone. "I saw you in the crowd yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to speak with you. How have you been?"

"Pretty good. Probably better than you've been managing," I chirp.

"Gee, thanks," he says dryly.

"Oh! Sorry, I could have phrased that better. I just meant—this is a whole new level of celebrity. You must feel really crowded."

"It would be hard not to with these crowds," he replies wryly. "People are starting to doubt the invention. I told Gippal that they would."

"I knew they would, too. It's Spira's nature. Hopefully they'll accept it soon enough." I offer him a guilty smile. "Can I be annoying and ask you questions, too?"

He sighs, but I think he's teasing. It's hard to tell with Nooj. "I suppose."

"I was just wondering—how does it feel? Not the things, I mean. They feel like body parts. I mean—I know you were feeling—you didn't like feeling like a—machina." Wow, Rikku. Way to sound like a damaged sphere.

He stares at me quizzically. I freeze, wondering if I've really messed up, but a smile spreads slowly across his face. "It feels wonderful," he says. "Thank you for asking. Yuna and Paine are the only other ones that have. I feel like I'm myself, again."

"So no more Deathseeker?" I tease.

"I think there will always be a bit of death-seeking in me," he replies solemnly. "But I wish for it no longer."

"I'm so glad for you!" I exclaim, and it's the truth. "When do they plan to start offering the tech to everyone?"

"Soon, I think. I certainly hope so. I wish this for everyone." His smile grows. I've never seen Nooj this at peace before. I offer my own grin towards Cid and Shinra, who wave at me. So much pride fills me for my friends that I feel like I might explode.

"Yeah, me too. I—"

"Excuse me?" I turn at the unfamiliar voice. The owner is a man dressed in plain fisherman's overalls. His skin is tanned, his hair and eyes brown. He looks like any number of citizens I've met. "Care to play Sphere Break?"

"Uhm, I didn't really come for that," I reply politely. "But if you head to the stadium, I'm sure you'll find plenty of competition."

He makes a face. "I've already been through them. Besides, I heard you did pretty well in the competition last year. I want someone who can really play."

"Oh, well if you want someone who can really play, you should try that boy over there," I say, pointing to Shinra. "He won last year."

He laughs. It's off—nervous, maybe? "I don't think I'm _that _good, yet. C'mon. One friendly game."

"I—" I look towards Nooj, who shrugs. "I guess I could do one little game, but I don't have any equipment on me."

"I can lend you some." Shinra is off the bench and next to me. "As long as I get to play winner."

I look towards the man. "Does that sound fair?"

He frowns, looking far more annoyed than the prospect of another game should make him if he's played so much already. "Fair enough."

Shinra digs around in a pocket for a moment before producing what I need. "Try not to lose my coins."

"I'll do my best." I accept the equipment, arranging the coins as necessary and letting the sphere do its thing. "Let's play, I guess!"

His rules are tough. There's a forty-five point quota in only fifteen turns, and there are only forty seconds per turn. I'm pretty rusty, so at first I'm definitely floundering, but by the fourth turn I'm building up a steady multiple. By the twelfth, I'm pretty confident that I'll win.

The thirteenth is one that I'm sure I can get in just a few seconds, so I take the opportunity to look up at my opponent. Surprisingly, he's staring right back at me. His face is twisted into an ugly kind of anger, and his face is covered with a sheen of sweat. His eyes burn into me with—hatred. I've never seen hatred so strong. But then he smiles and goes back to his round. Did I imagine it?

I shake it off and play through the last couple of rounds quickly. I cheer as soon as the quota limit hits and informs me that I've won. "Wow, that was fun! It was a close match," I offer to my opponent.

"Yeah." His expression is muted, but there's something in the sheen of his eyes and the angle of his brows. That anger, that hatred. He's furious that I've won. He can't stand me. I can't for the life of me figure out why. I've never seen this man in my life, have I? "Guess I owe you my coins."

"Guess so. Better luck next time!" I chirp. His fists are clenched tightly around the coins, and it's with visible reluctance that he releases them into my open palm.

"You're the one that needs luck, lady." His voice is low, the words spat. With that, he turns sharply on his heel and is gone, stalking off towards the steps that will lead him out of Luca.

"That—that was weird," I stammer. I can't help but feel a little shaken as I look towards Shinra.

"He was quite hostile," Shinra agrees, shaking his head. "Some people are just sore losers, I guess. Speaking of which, I hope you won't be. Ready for our match?"

"Didn't you destroy me enough last year?" I moan.

"You agreed to my proposition," he retorts.

"Yeah, but I didn't think I'd win!" I sigh, knowing I can't win—the argument or the game. "All right. Just let me check out these coins and see if there's anything worth using."

The first few coins are typical fiend-based coins, but the fourth is…weird. In the center is the Al Bhed symbol for the letter D, and it is encircled and crossed out crudely. "Uh. I've never seen this one before, Shinra."

"A rare coin? Let me see!" He moves close to me, and I hold out my hand in offering. "That's not a fiend," he says slowly.

"Well, obviously." I frown. "What _is _it?"

"Besides a few symbols that I've never seen together before?" He sniffs, wiping at his gas mask with his gloved hand as if that'll do anything. "I don't know. I've honestly never seen it, either."

"Weird."

"Totally weird." He hesitates, and then adds eagerly, "If you give me the coin, I'll let you off the hook. You don't have to play me."

"Hmm." I close my fingers around the coin. There's a weird sort of warmth about it. It almost…pulses? But coins don't pulse. I decide that I don't want to let go of this coin. I don't have a good reason. My instinct, though, is screaming that I need it, that it's important somehow. And as much as my instinct gets me into trouble, it's usually right. "Nah. I think I'm keeping it." I raise a brow at him. "Besides, I feel good all of a sudden. I think I'm on a roll. I just might get you back for crushing me."

He snorts. "Right. Care to make it interesting, if you're so sure you'll win?"

"I'm not betting the coin," I say firmly.

"No, no. I'm talking gil. Winner gets five hundred?"

"Five hundred? Might as well make it a thousand," I reply. Even if I lose, a thousand gil is nothing with all that I've heaped up hunting spheres.

"You're on! I wonder how I'll spend my easily earned winnings."

"Don't count your chocobos before they hatch," I trill. We each set up our boards. The match begins.

It's close, way closer than the angry fisherman's. We work furiously, and when we finish, it's almost simultaneous. Our heads snap up warily to look each other over. Shinra laughs victoriously as soon as the winning jangle sounds off, but the noise quickly turns to a guffaw. Because the winning noise came from _me. _

"I did it! I beat you!" I smirk at him.

"Maybe the coins I gave you were too good," he mutters. "Anyway, it was just luck. I'm the best."

"Maybe it was luck," I agree. "But that luck just cost you a thousand gil. Fork it over, short stuff!"

"You know, you're almost shorter than I am," he mutters, "and I've got growing left to do." He digs up the money, though, as well as the coins he's lost to me. I beam at him, tucking the lot into my pocket.

"You can get as tall as you want. It won't change the fact that I totally just crushed you."

"Hey, guys!" Buddy calls out, interrupting whatever Shinra was about to say. He and Brother are jogging up the stadium path. They come to a halt, Buddy putting his hands on his knees. "Man, I really need to get off the airship more."

"How's the stadium?" I ask.

"Packed," Brother says, widening his eyes.

"Sphere break's really taking off," Buddy confirms, standing straight. "Looks like you guys played a round, huh? I saw you puttin' stuff away as we ran up."

"I totally kicked his butt!" I crow.

"She just barely beat me," Shinra mutters.

"Wow, beat by Yuna and now Rikku. Your record's looking less and less spotless," Buddy replies, nudging at the boy.

"My wins astronomically outweigh my losses," Shinra retorts. "Anyway, they both just got lucky. Luck seems to run with the Gullwing ladies."

"We just get all the good stuff," I say, sing-song. "Luck, charms, smarts—an unstoppable force!"

"Not that you let it go to your head," Brother says.

"We'd never dream of it. We're very humble, too." I offer him a grin. "What's next on the list of things to do?"

"We could stick around and watch everyone attack poor Nooj some more." Buddy nods towards the man in question. Sometime during the Break battles, the crowd resurfaced.

"Hmm. Could we get some food?" I put a hand to my stomach. "I'm starving!"

"You're always starving," Brother replies.

"I'm pretty hungry, myself," Buddy says with a shrug. "Food sounds good to me."

"Fine, fine," Brother says, raising his head in his most leader-like manner. "We'll get some food."

"Right!" I take a step forward to lead the way, but then stop, cocking my head. Something seems…off. "Uh, guys. Where's Calli?"

Brother and Buddy look at each other, at the area around them, and then at each other again. "_Crid!" _they shout as one, and then whirl around to rush back down the path.

I roll my eyes. "See you later," I offer to my friends behind me, and then I'm dashing down the path after them.

Some leaders they are!


End file.
